Rachel's POV

Several hours have passed since Mom left with the remaining team. I know that I told her that I would behave, but as more and more time went by without hearing from them, I start to suspect the worst. It was only a twenty-minute flight to the base. If they were taking this long to take rescue everyone, then something is going wrong.

Time for me to take the problem into my own hands.

With the Professor out of the mansion with his own peaceful endeavors, I sneak down to the lower levels of the school. My footsteps echo through the otherwise metallic hallways... Or is that my heart I'm hearing? I have never used Cerebro before. But if it is the worst-case scenario, I want to know now instead of waiting for the Professor to come home.

So, without fear (Okay, I'm a little scared), I step into the big, round room that is Cerebro. I make it down the catwalk towards the console. My heart pounds in my ears. I lift the headpiece, stroke the symbol molded on the front. No more procrastinating. Without consideration that I just lost control of my powers yesterday, I hold the helmet up over my head and lower it down.

And then it feels like my mind is doing this: AHHHHHHHHHHH!

I'm suddenly connected to every living being on this planet! Every thought, emotion, love, hatred, everything. It's a stormy sea in my head that I have to swim through, but the waves are so high! They want to drown me! The weaker I start to feel, the stronger it gets. I can't find anyone in this mess!

Mom! I cry out. Where are you?

Then as if someone is pulling me through everyone else, my telepathy leads me to the base. So many mutants are here! And there is so much pain! I can hardly stand it! I focus hard on Mom until I'm in a cell, she is unconscious in the corner of it. Oh no!

Unable to handle it anymore, I yank the helmet off and throw it onto the console. The pressure in my head decreases, but it leaves behind an unpleasant throb. The room around me spins, and acidic warmth creeps up my throat. I heave and rather unattractively puke over the floor.

When I try to stand, my legs are weak. They tremble under the weight of my body. I crawl to the door instead, all the while my vision swarms with shadows. It really is a miracle that I manage to get to the exit without passing out.

With the wall to brace me up, I get back to my feet. A burst of air-conditioned air hits my sweat-drenched face when I get out the door. I start to chill.

"Rachel?"

To my horror, there is a group of students standing in front of me, staring. Santo, who has an inorganic rock form encasing his entire body. Nick's body is covered in brown fur and had wolf ears and fangs. Roberto, who can absorb the sun's energy and channeling it into his own energy blasts. Then there is Danielle, who refuses to speak about her powers to anyone.

"W-what...What the hell are you doing here?" I try to straighten myself up against the wall so I don't look so weak. But between my shaking body and trembling voice, I know I look pathetic. So much for being the badass fighter I've tried to make them think I am. Who am I kidding? They probably saw the news.

"The same could be asked of you. Are you sick?" Santo asks.

"No. I just used Cerebro," I snap.

A joint gasp from the whole group fills the hall. "But I thought only the Professor was allowed to do that?"

"And you guys aren't allowed down here without an X-Man to supervise you."

Santo winces, his rocky features crunching together for a moment. "Well, they aren't here so we thought we'd come down and check out the danger room."

"Yeah," Nick nods. "With the humans attacking us, we figured it's about time we start fighting."

Every muscle in my body perks up when he says this. "You really want to go against the humans? Because the X-Men have been taken captive by the MRD and someone's got to rescue them."

"All the X-Men?" Nick frowns. "I don't know if that is a good idea. I mean, if all the X-Men were taken by these guys, then what sort of chance to do we got at getting them out?"

"If not us, who will get them out?" Danielle asks She is very soft-spoken, but her words ring with truth and determination. "We do not know what the MRD is capable of. They took Cyclops, Storm, and Havok under arrest for keeping protesters safe against attacking mutants. I do not believe they wish to be peaceful to our kind. Rachel, where they hurt when you found them in Cerebro?"

"I could only find my mother, and she was unconscious in a cell. I don't know about anyone else specifically, but the overall vibes I sensed in that prison were not pleasant."

Roberto sighs. "Who knows? Maybe they'll underestimate us and give us the chance to beat their asses before they can even blink."

"Or maybe they'll beat our asses," Nick adds.

I roll my eyes high to the sky. "You don't have to come if you don't want to. Frankly, none of you do. It's not your responsibility and you'll probably get into trouble for breaking the rules."

"Storm and Cyclops saved me when my powers first developed and I destroyed my reservation," Danielle says. "It's only fair that I repay the favor. Besides, I have some things up my sleeves that the MRD doesn't know about."

"I bet there're people who look like me in that prison," Santo's eyes are hard as his armor as he realizes this. "And if not, I'll make sure there never are."

Roberto put a hand on Nick's shoulder. "What do you say? You wanna break these guys out of prison?"

Nick growls. "Whenever I thought about the times I'd experience peer pressure, I always expected it to be with drugs, not saving the day. Fine, I'm in. But if we get any trophies for our valent effort, I better get mine first."

"Just one more question," Roberto pips up. "Will we get uniforms? Because I don't exactly feel badass running into this place in sweat pants. I'll end up burning them off and no one wants to see that."

After I track down the extra uniforms, we head to the garage. A car isn't the most ideal form of travel, but the X-Men, and now maybe also the MRD, have the Blackbird. So we either take bikes, walk, or drive.

I've chosen the fastest of the three options.

"Do you know how to drive this thing?" Nick asks when I get behind the wheel of the van.

"I can pilot a spacecraft," I assure. "I'm sure I can drive this."

"This cannot be legal," Santo says. He's hunched over in the back seat, blocking the view out the rear window. "You're thirteen!"

"Last I heard, none of you are at the legal age to drive either," I point out. But now it is time I get serious. I turn around to face them all. "It isn't too late for any of you to go back inside the mansion and forget about this mission if you aren't comfortable doing it. Once we're on the road, we're going to be considered criminals. We might have to make hard choices as well. And take the lives of humans to save our mutant brothers and sisters. If you can't live with that on your conscience, then this is not the path you should be taking."

"We are mutants, Rachel. In this society, we were born criminals," Danielle says. "I do not want to kill anyone, but I want to protect our kind. Let's go. The longer we stall, the longer the MRD has the X-Men."

So I turn the key in the ignition, and the van hums to life. I put my foot on the break and (accidentally) speed off of the property.

I'm coming, Mom and Dad.

To Be Continued...